Wyoming Whiskey Returns Ownership to Wyoming Roots

KIRBY, Wyo., June 25, 2026 — WW Partners, LLC, a Wyoming-based investment group, has acquired Edrington’s 80% stock holdings in Wyoming Whiskey, returning full ownership of the pioneering Rocky Mountain distillery to its home state. Led by co-founder David DeFazio, the acquisition marks a new chapter for Wyoming Whiskey. Edrington, the Scotland-based spirits group behind The Macallan, one of the world’s most decorated single malt Scotch whiskies, invested in Wyoming Whiskey in 2018. During its partnership, Edrington worked alongside the Wyoming Whiskey team to refine and elevate the distillery’s production processes, resulting in some of the finest whiskies the brand has ever produced. The Wyoming-led ownership group will build on that foundation as it returns the brand to its roots.

Founded in 2006, with production beginning on July 4, 2009, Wyoming Whiskey was a pioneer in the craft whiskey industry and the first legal distillery in Wyoming. All its whiskies, which include bourbon, rye, and American straight whiskey, have been made in Wyoming using non-GMO corn, wheat, rye, and barley grown in the Bighorn Basin. The brand has received critical acclaim for many of its bourbons, including last year’s Buffalo Bill Cody release, which was named Best Non-Kentucky Small Batch Bourbon by the World Whiskies Awards in 2026. The company has also just released State of the Union, a 6-year bourbon that celebrates America’s 250th anniversary and Wyoming’s role in the national story.

DeFazio notes, “Moving forward, Wyoming Whiskey will recommit to its roots and return to the culture and constitution that made it the whiskey of the West and a staple of the Rocky Mountain whiskey category. We are proud to honor the contributions of our partners at Edrington and look forward to introducing the trade and consumers to a Wyoming Whiskey that represents the very best of what this brand has always been capable of.”

Mike Zitelli, Head of Legal & Corporate Affairs for Edrington Americas, said: “It has been a pleasure working with the Mead Family and David DeFazio on a brand steeped in heritage and authenticity. We wish Wyoming Whiskey every success under its new ownership and with its more focused localized approach.”

As part of its forward strategy, Wyoming Whiskey will return to its partnership with Nancy Fraley, the preeminent Master Blender and spirits alchemist responsible for the creation of Outryder, 10th Anniversary Edition, and countless other award-winning whiskies.

Fraley noted, “I am enormously excited about resuming my work with Wyoming Whiskey as their Master Blender after a nearly three-year hiatus. And I am particularly pleased to see the company come back home under the leadership of co-founder David DeFazio. Distilleries that are owned and operated by local people who are passionate about the liquid they create are the ones with whom I always prefer to work, and this absolutely informed my decision to come back. I look forward to resuming my close partnership with David and the production team at Wyoming Whiskey to take the brand to new heights.”

Reflecting on Wyoming Whiskey’s path ahead, DeFazio adds, “Our successes are a tribute to all of our past and present partners, and we look forward to forging new relationships at home and across our great country, and beyond.”

To learn more about Wyoming Whiskey, please visit wyomingwhiskey.com.

About Wyoming Whiskey

Based in Kirby, Wyoming, Wyoming Whiskey was founded with a simple goal: to create America’s next great bourbon — a goal that has since expanded to include all styles of American whiskey. The brand is a true collaboration between its partners and the great state of Wyoming itself.

In 2006, Brad and Kate Mead, together with partner David DeFazio, founded Wyoming Whiskey. Using the finest corn, winter wheat, winter rye, barley, and water sourced from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming Whiskey proudly showcases the state’s natural and human resources. Every drop is truly made of Wyoming.

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Justina Rapala Nielsen | FORTE MARE

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